Ribbiting Tales: Original Stories about Frogs

by Nancy Springer, Bruce Coville, Janet Taylor Lisle, et al.

Book Overview

Who doesn't like frogs? So they're green and well, slimy. Frogs have charisma, charm, and even a few stories to tell. With the help of eight of today's most fanciful writers, frogs finally have their... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399233121
• ISBN13: 9780399233128
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Philomel Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 0.8" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

Well named!

This is a whimsical collection of daft and not-so-daft stories about - well, yes, OK, frogs. Nancy Springer, the editor, has brought together a terrific bunch of writers and the results reflect the quality of the contributors. Springer's own story is a delightful heart-warmer with a good twist. Robert J. Harris' creation, Jim Croaker, deserves a series of his own, and the story is reminiscent in some ways of Mark Twain. Janet Taylor Lisle's contribution is a lovely piece of work, the central character is so very endearing, if very humanly prickly! And Jane Yolen, America's answer to Hans Andersen, delights as ever with a very different kind of Green Plague, and she manages to weave her serious points invisibly into the fabric of her tale.All in all, this is a wonderfully quirky slim volume - slightly outre in places, but well-written, clever, hugely enjoyable and, yes, I found it - ribbiting - sorry - YOU try reading this and NOT making frog jokes for days!

Fun!

A whole book of frog fiction: Who thinks of these things? Nancy Springer, apparently, and I, for one, am glad she did. These eight stories are a hoot, each focusing in some way on frogs. The majority of the stories are humorous, as one might expect, but every once in a while one of the authors throws us a curveball. Stephen Menick's take on the Exodus story as told by Pharaoh - plague of frogs included - has as much power as any short story I've ever read. What a nice surprise. Janet Lisle's story of a little girl who enacts revenge on a cat-eating coyote by making up a tale of mutant frogs in emminent danger has a delicious dark edge to it. And fans of Brian Jacques' Redwall books will get a kick out of his contribution about a blustery frog king whose lazy pond receives a surprise visitor. Illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi clearly has fun with these stories, producing a Rockwell-like charm with his black-and-white art. I am withholding one star for the simple reason that the stories begin to feel a bit repetitive, but that doesn't change the fact that this book is a frogful of fun. Give it to the frog fan in your life, or simply enjoy it yourself.